and would have been delighted to see her inherit seventy thousand pounds
from the Shah of Persia or the President of the United States, was not
quite so unnatural an idiot as to recommend to the young lady a more
conciliating behavior. As for Miss Tremount, she preserved her composure
and kept her counsel perfectly, and never referred to her will even in her
most unguarded moments. She was courteous and complimentary to Sir Edward,
indulgent to Archibald, kind and sisterly to Lady Malmaison, and quietly
observant of everything and everybody. On the wedding morning she
criticised and admired the bride's toilet with a taste and appreciation
that caused the proud young beauty's eyes to sparkle; and just before the
party entered the hall, she pressed Kate's hand affectionately, and said,
in her gentlest tones, that she hoped she would be happy. "I have always
looked upon your mother as one of the happiest of women, my dear," she
added. "May your fortune equal hers!" This good-natured benediction caused
Lady Malmaison a good deal of anxiety; Sir Edward smiled aside at what he
fancied was a subtle stroke of irony; and Kate herself became thoughtful,
and regretted that it was rather late in the day to begin to show Miss
Tremount what a charming elderly lady she thought her.

The great hall looked its stateliest that morning. The March sunshine came
slanting through the tall windows, and lay in bright patches upon the
broad floor, or gleamed upon the ancient swords and breastplates, or
glowed in the festal hangings. Quite a large number of titled and
fashionable persons were collected at the upper end of the room,
whispering and rustling, and dressed in what we should now consider very
wonderful costumes, though they were all the mode then. A few minutes
before eleven the very reverend dean, and an assistant divine, together
with the bridegroom and Archibald, entered and took their places in great
pomp and dignity beneath the canopy which had been constructed for the
occasion, and which, was covered with fresh flowers, whose fragrance